Modular School Buildings: Classrooms, Nursery Rooms and Staff Space

For modular school buildings, Karmod units are built in the factory and arrive on site finished, so much of the work happens away from pupils. The base and service connections are still done on site. This page is for heads, business managers, trust estates teams and nursery owners.

What schools use modular units for

Each unit is a small building: the largest, 3.00m × 7.00m, is 21 m² measured externally, so the usable floor area inside is smaller. Units can be set side by side or stacked, as in the two-storey container office block on our projects page; see modular buildings. For a room larger than one unit, tell us the size and we will confirm on a drawing what we can supply.

Use	What to plan for	Where to start
Extra classroom	Floor area for the class size, daylight, heating, ventilation, acoustics, power and data	An open room, as in the open-plan portable cabin; a full class usually needs more floor area than one unit
Nursery or early years room	A WC and hand basin close by, a door onto a safe outdoor area, steady heating	The Site Office with WC & Kitchenette: one open room with a WC cubicle (toilet and basin) and a kitchenette by the entrance. In England, check toilets and nappy changing against the EYFS framework
Staff room or office	A kitchenette, a quiet room for meetings	The Office with Private Office, or the Office with Kitchenette Lobby
WCs	Number of WCs, who will use them (pupils, staff or visitors), an accessible WC, water supply and drainage	Listed layouts have one WC or shower room at most; see welfare and WC units and tell us how many you need
Music or group room	Sound insulation, sockets for equipment	An open room; raise acoustics at the drawing stage

The open-plan cabin is £4,290 + VAT in 2.30m × 6.00m and £5,790 + VAT in 3.00m × 7.00m, before options. For several units or changes to a listed layout, your formal quote prices them once we confirm the layout on a drawing. Website prices exclude VAT, delivery and offloading.

For a whole class, check the internal floor area against your own requirements; in England, the usual reference is the Department for Education's non-statutory BB103 area guidelines.

Temporary or longer-term school buildings

Consideration	Temporary	Longer-term
Typical reasons	Building works, a bulge year, rooms lost to flood or fire	A growing roll, a new nursery, replacing a worn-out building
Planning	In England and Wales, permission can be time-limited, with a condition to remove the building at the end	Permission for a permanent building
Base and services	Often pads or hardstanding, with services planned to be disconnected later	A base and permanent connections designed for long use

Temporary buildings often stay longer than planned: the Karmod group's EREA Simone Veil school in France was planned for five years, and the education authority later considered keeping it for many years. If yours might stay, plan the base, services and planning for the longer period.

What to check before you order

Planning permission and permitted development

In England and Wales, putting up a new building is development, so it needs planning permission unless permitted development rights cover it; do not assume a temporary classroom is exempt. In England, Class M of Part 7 of the General Permitted Development Order 2015 covers some new buildings at existing schools. The building must be within the school grounds and used for the school; limits apply to added footprint, height, distance from neighbouring homes and loss of playing fields, and Class M does not apply within the curtilage of a listed building. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules. Ask your local planning authority before you commit; we can supply drawings for an application.

Building Regulations, access and fire safety

In England and Wales, erecting a building is building work under the Building Regulations 2010, so building control approval is usually needed. Exemptions cover buildings not intended to stay more than 28 days, and some detached single-storey buildings of up to 30 m² with no sleeping accommodation that are at least 1 m from the boundary or built substantially of non-combustible material, so ask building control. Requirement E4 also covers the acoustics of rooms in school buildings. Plan fire escape routes and a level or ramped entrance early.

In Scotland, ask the council's building standards service whether you need a building warrant; in Northern Ireland, ask the district council's building control. Update the school's fire risk assessment for the new building, a duty in England and Wales under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own fire safety law.

Choosing the spot

• Away from play areas and the paths pupils use at drop-off and pick-up.
• Clear of fire exits and escape routes from existing buildings.
• Reachable by a lorry, with space for the HIAB, crane or forklift your quote confirms and a lifting zone that can be closed off.
• On level, well-drained ground where a firm base can be laid. We advise on the base when we quote.
• Close to services: plan how power, water, drainage and data will reach the building.

Keeping delivery day safe

Book delivery for a day when pupils are not on site, such as a holiday or training day, or close off the route and lifting area until the lift is finished. Agree how the crew will sign in and be supervised under your school's procedures. Our guide to preparing your site for cabin delivery covers access, base and services.

Placing a building and connecting its services is construction work, so in Great Britain the client, usually the school, trust or council, has duties under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Northern Ireland has its own CDM regulations.

How Karmod works

Karmod has designed and manufactured prefabricated buildings since 1986; our UK team in Leicestershire handles quotes, orders and delivery. Fit these steps around planning, building control and term dates.

1. Drawing. Tell us what each room is for, who will use it and the facilities it needs. We confirm the layout on a drawing before production.
2. Quote. We check the drawing, the route onto the school site and the offload equipment, then send a formal quote.
3. Factory build. Units are built in Türkiye while the base and service connections are prepared on site.
4. Delivery. Units arrive finished and are set down on the prepared base, ready for services to be connected.

Karmod group education projects

These Karmod group buildings in France and Germany were completed before Karmod's UK company began operations in January 2023, and were assembled on site by group crews. Some used 3m × 9m units; neither those nor buildings of this size are in the UK website range, so ask us what we can supply.

Project	Where and when	What was built
Muriel-Hurtis kindergarten and primary school	Bobigny, near Paris, 2021	A two-storey school of 132 container units and 1,900 m², with ten classrooms for up to 187 pupils, a dining hall and a library, finished in coloured composite coatings.
EREA Simone Veil school	Amilly, France, 2018	A replacement for a flood-damaged building: ten classrooms plus technology, computer, art and music rooms, a lab, a library and a canteen.
Chemistry faculty teaching building	France, 2020	A two-storey building of six 3m × 9m units, 162 m² in total.
Music education centre	Potsdam, Germany, 2019	70 units (56 of 3m × 7m and 14 of 3m × 9m), with sound-insulating coatings on the sandwich panel walls.

Ask about a building for your school

Send us the rooms you need, rough sizes, where the building will go and when you need it. Contact our UK team or call 0116 403 0143.